If You Touched My Heart
by ArcadaAvaLon
Summary: Brooklyn had orders to convert an enemy to Vampirism. But something went wrong. Who he bit was human, if the council find out they’ll kill her. How far will he have to go to protect her? Brooklyn&Arista, Kai&Amber, Johnny&Miyami, Hitoshi&Shahero, etc.
1. Prologue

**Hello all my chums and chumettes! 'Tis me, Arcada. Here to spread joy and fun to all the little children around the world. Well, no that would suck. Anywho, I'm sorry for taking so long with this. I had things to attend, and stuff to do. I know it's vague but that's the only way it makes me sound smart. Read and Review please. You will all get... Gummy Worms! Yeah! Who doesn't like Gummy Worms? If you don't you either a) crazy, or b) crazy. Haha-di-haha.**

Warning: Okay, this ficlet is more action-y and dark. It pertains to darker, mature themes. Not like that, you pervs! You know who you are and if you don't then, well, it's not fault this time. I swear I didn't do anything! Anyways, there will be blood, gore, swearing, conspiracy, alcohol, death, and all that other good stuff. _Don't say I didn't warn you._

Disclaimer: **I **own **Arista Dymitri Belyaev**. If you want to borrow her, ask first. **Amber Marie Benson **belongs to **Zadien**, as does **Morrigan 'Ruin' Mulryan**. Ask first or you'll have to deal with her anger. **Shahero Kaeto **is the property of **Coors** and **Bobby**. **Takao Aomi **owns the concept of the spinning tops, and all such related indicia.

Plot: Brooklyn had orders to convert an enemy to Vampirism. But something went wrong, there was a flaw in the seemingly perfect plan. Who he bit was human, if the council find out they'll kill her. Now he'll do whatever it takes to protect her, even if that means death. Just how far will he have to go?

On the other hand, the council is threatened to fall apart when Voltaire kills Dickenson, the leader of all supernatural beings. Now he takes the place as head honcho. Something sinister is going on because Voltaire was somehow connected to the faults in the Perfect plan. If anyone discovers this, he'll personally kill them. Maybe Arista isn't all she seems to be.

Add to that the vampires who rebel against Voltaire. Things take a nasty turn when all hell breaks loose.

A Brief History of the Two Worlds

The Parallel world and the Human world are interconnecting. The Parallel world overlaps on the Human world. Basically there are two Earths except they balance on each other. When night comes the Vampires can go out into the Human world. The Humans can't see them, but the Vampires can see the Humans. This is how they kill and take out their enemies, prey, etc.

Since the Humans can't see the Vampires, they have no method of protection. So instead a veil was cast on their world that separated them from the Parallel world. This veil, unfortunately, has threads that are breaking and are already severely damaged. The Vampires can get through this since it acts like a portal between the two worlds.

The Vampires can come out in daylight but they need something to help them sustain their form (Ex: blood given willingly once a week). The sustained Vampires have been around for a few centuries. They have interacted with other Vampires and possibly Humans. They can control their emotions and blood-cravings, which is always helpful to gain trust.

A Brief History of Vampirism

The idea of drinking blood to be immortal is not a foreign one to the human mind. Drinking the blood of another is sometimes understood as obtaining the "**life-blood**" of someone else for yourself. The idea of being a vampire is basically obtaining someone else's life inside of you, along with your own.

Vampires are creatures that maintain immortality by sucking blood from humans and animals. They're night creatures, and the sight of sunlight turns them to stone, or sometimes dust. They sleep in coffins, can't stand churches, and scream at the sight of garlic.

Most Vampires can stay in their human form during the day, thus allowing them to come out in the daylight. Some Vampires are immune to churches, garlic, and sunlight. While other Vampires are a cross breed of Human and Vampiric parents, they are also immune. All of the other Vampires can cast a veil to protect them from such incidents. Typically, it is thought that Vampires will die if you drive stake through their heart. This is incorrect and does nothing to stop the Vampires.

They have been around for ages, even though most people don't believe in them, they are real. They make great companions with ghosts, or otherwise prefer to be alone, basking in solitude.  


If You Touched My Heart

Prologue: Awakening

Arista walked down the street, soaking wet as buckets of rain poured around her. She shivered in the chillness of the night, quickened her steps just a little bit. A car whizzed by her on the street, lights flaring, sprinkling drops of water on her.

She turned her head away from the brightness. Lightning flashed, thunder rumbled. She grinned; this was her sort of night. Dark, raining, and a storm. She'd always been interested in storms, but mostly because they were beautiful to watch. The way the thunder roared. The way that lightening followed, flashing and giving the effect that it was on fire. The way that the rain collided head on with the ground, making pitter-patter sounds.

She wiped rainwater from her eyes and scrunched her nose. She felt a sudden chill in the temperature, more than it had been so before. Involuntary shudders ran from the nape of her neck all the way down to her spine. She pulled her hood over her wet hair, pulled her sleeves over her hands, then stuffed them in her pockets. She was taking a walk because lately she had, had trouble sleeping. Often falling asleep in school, and staying up all night. Her eyes had dark bags under them from exhaustion. Her mom didn't know about her late night excursions, Arista didn't want to worry her unnecessarily.

As she walked past an alleyway, someone grabbed at her, pulling her into darkness. She struggled and struck out with her hand. They were balled into fists, white from the strain of pressure.

She could feel a pair of hands pinning her against the wall. A hand closed around her wrists, put them up over her head in a vice like grip. She struggled and hissed as fingernails dug into her skin, drawing blood.

A cloud of darkness settled over and around her. She shivered in the chill of the night, breath coming out in frigid gasps. Frightened, she closed her eyes, willing it all away. Sadly reopening them only to find reality in the wake.

Let me go, she thought to herself. "Let me go!" She screamed.

Wincing she kicked with one foot and balanced herself on the other. She struck out blindly but made no contact with anything solid. She felt sick, her stomach churned uneasily, her gut clenched. The putrid smells in the alley alone, made her want to be sick. All around her was the rancid stink of death, putrefying her nostrils.

What was going on?

She heard a whisper of someone saying something, but she couldn't make out what was being said. All she could feel was the warm, hot breath on her neck. It was scaring her, and she yelped when fangs sunk into her skin.

Blood dripped from her neck, onto her sweatshirt. Her eyes rolled back into her head, her navy amber flecked pupils dilated.

Arista's body went limp for a few seconds before she reopened her eyes and stared into moss green eyes. Narrowed at her. She squirmed under the gaze, immobilized again. The alley wall was supporting her body. A light shone in the distance, illuminating both figures. The darkness crept out being overpowered by the light. Shadows came alive, casting eerie silhouettes.

Was this some kind of a sick joke?

Her vision was hazy, but she could still see the figure in front of her. A mass of ginger red hair surrounded a sinfully angelic face. The same moss green eyes widened just a bit, turning a shade of light cloudy blue. Smooth, creamy skin, deathly pale was soft and moist from the rain. She realised it was a he now. She took in his soft lips, and nose. The angle of his face and the spikes in his hair. Half of it was dulled by water and hung down over his forehead.

She almost drowned in numbness, only to be snapped out by pinpricks of pain in her wrists. Currently, they had become insensitive to feeling, were turning a shade close to violet. It brought her back to reality. Especially when she felt a stinging sensation in the side of her neck. She tried to free her hands and scratch at it, but his voice stopped her.

"Don't." It was whisper soft and smooth.

He let go of her hands; she lowered them to her neck and placed them there. Warmth seeped into her again, blocking out the deadening cold. She could feel her blood pounding inside her. Her heart throbbed in place, beating erratically, but she never looked away from him.

She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out, so instead she ran her tongue around her lips, closed her mouth. She swallowed saliva and reopened her mouth. Her voice came out barely a whimper.

"What did you do?" The Russian in her voice was barely recognizable. But he deemed it Russian nonetheless.

"Sedhro." He whispered something to her in his tongue. She didn't understand but nodded in acknowledgement. He frowned at her.

"Do you know what I said?" His voice cruised over Russia, picking up subtle hints of America.

"No." She replied. But she didn't care; all she knew was that she loved his voice.

He looked over her profile. Small, short and skinny. She stood a good six inches less at least compared to him. Confused navy orbs stared at him; they were partly lidded by her eyelids, and clouded over with amber flecks. He frowned. Wet, silver hair was tipped with gold, and hung into a low ponytail. He could see some black streaks in there as well. He pushed her bangs out of her face, tucking them behind her ear.

No, this was not her at all. This girl was human.

Arista felt the touch of his bloodied hand on her skin and was shocked to find it freezing cold. She gave a shudder, and leaned back further into the alley wall, dreading the possibility that he might kill her.

"Mordré."

Arista nearly sighed at hearing his voice. He put his hands on her shoulders, and lowered one to her hand. He found it covered in blood, finger marks were visible. It was turning a deep rich red colour.

She hissed when he rubbed his fingers softly on her skin. It was paining her to look at him, and all she wanted to do was sleep. Never wake up.

"That means hang on."

She nodded and repeated it. "Mordré."

He pulled her close to him, and jumped straight up onto a rooftop. He stood there with her limp body in his hands. He could just leave her there, no one would be the wiser. But, he decided he'd take her along. Only because he felt drawn to her. Something about her was off, besides the fact that he'd bitten her. Something was oh so very wrong. He was going to find out. And when he did, he would face the consequences of what he'd done.

In the meantime, he jumped onto the second building and held her closer to him., just to make sure she wouldn't slip away and fall. Arista didn't care where he took her, she could hardly keep her eyes open, and besides that, she felt warm and safe - although limp as a rag doll - in his arms.

Underneath them the city lights flashed and burned in her eyes. Every time he took a jump towards the next rooftop she felt a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. Hoping she wouldn't fall she clung onto him with the little strength she still had. This was all a dream, when she woke up she would be at home. In her bed, in her warm, safe bed. She'd wake up and go watch cartoons. Then laugh about this later. She would wake up from this nightmare.

Yet, a small tiny voice begged to differ with her. Her brain was muddy, tired. She couldn't shake off the feeling that this was real. That it wasn't a dream, or a nightmare. It was real and there was no way out.

Where were Amber, Shahero, or Ruin when you needed them?

* * *

To anyone who didn't know Amber or Kai, it looked like an intimate position. But not when you took a closer look. 

"What the fuck do you want now, Witch?"

Kai growled angry at the ochre eyed girl. She claimed she hated him, but would never left him alone. Forever following him and pestering him. He was getting a little annoyed of her habits. The way she sneered at him, the way she rolled her eyes when he said something to her, and especially the way her lush, full lips curved into a frown, or a smirk.

He noticed the way her voice rose or dropped at certain words, the way her eyes glittered whenever she was pulling a prank, the way they dulled when she was bored or tired. He noticed just about everything there was to Amber Marie Benson. He had been for 17 years now, continued to do so even now.

Her eyes sparkled with annoyance, the concept of a challenge exuded from them. He shouldn't have been thinking about her in the first place. But lately, he'd found himself thinking about Amber more often than not.

"I said you're sitting on my book. Now get off it!" She was practically leaning on him, her arm was around his neck and down on his shoulders. Her other hand was reaching, stretching behind him. The smell of her hair was intoxicating his brain, his senses.

"Yeah well, and what if I don't want to?" His eyes hardened when her breath fanned on his face and tickled his earlobes. It was sugar sweet and smelled like cherries.

Amber growled. "Then fuck you!"

"Sure. Name the time and place."

"Seventy million years from now in your dreams."

"I'll sleep soundly tonight."

"Don't be too sure. There are still the bed bugs."

"If you're one of the bugs, I don't think I'd mind."

A third voice interrupted their squabble. "You will, this one is poisonous."

"Not to mention you'd squish me." Amber added to Tala's comment.

Tala stood in the doorway of the living room to his house. Blood red hair spiked to two, on either side of his head. Two bangs framed his face eloquently. His brilliant turquoise eyes were bright and vibrant. His face, pale as death showed off his Russian skin. It was smooth and soft to the very last touch. He angled his face to better view his companions.

Kai was sitting on a sofa, a notebook and pen were in his hands. Homework, Tala deduced. They lived in the Human world so they went to a Human school and did homework. Or chose not to when they didn't feel like it.

Kai's face was pallid in complexion to Amber's exotic bronze. His eyes were a deep mahogany, while hers were a shade of amber.

Amber's face was gypsy like, her lips full, and her nose small, her eyes lit up when they spotted him. She was short and extremely skinny.

Tala grinned when her expression changed. She straightened herself up and stuck her tongue out at him, and pulled her eye down with her finger, scrunching up the other one. She made a whining noise, then continued on to hit Hiwatari on the head.

"Ow, what was that for?"

He leered at her, then reluctantly got up.

She turned to him casually, one eyebrow raised. "Because you wouldn't get up, dumbass." She said it with such confidence that it sounded like she was telling Kai he was stupid, only replacing the words with niceties.

Tala smiled. And to think the two of them were his best friends. He had known both Amber and Kai since he was just a little kid. They had gotten along, but constant bickering and annoyance had led each to degrade and hate the other. It was almost impossible for Amber to control her tongue when Kai was around to get under her skin. Vice versa went for Kai Nicolai Hiwatari.

Scowling, Kai left the room muttering incoherent profanities as he walked. Amber sat down and began writing in her notebook. She looked up when she felt the stare of Tala's turquoise eyes on her.

"What?"

"Nothing." Tala smiled, shook his head and followed after Kai.

Amber returned to writing again in her notebook, shock etched it's way on her face when she realised what she'd written. The first half of the paper was her History essay, the second half was doodles and tic-tac-toe games. On the corner of the paper was her name, inside of a heart along with Kai's. She erased it immediately upon seeing it. What was wrong with her? The blue-haired male was slowly occupying every bit of her brain. Thoughts of him flooded into her head. Shaking it, she frowned. Was this what it felt like to like someone? If so, she didn't want to like Kai. Half the time he was around, she couldn't think straight, so she settled for calling him names and insulting him while he wondered why she hated him so much.

Not realising the worth of her thoughts, Amber stared confused at her notebook. What was supposed to have been her History essay was now turning into a page full of doodles and nonsense. She glowered at the paper, ripped it out then started to re-write her essay. History was her favourite subject and came naturally to her. She just couldn't think straight because Kai was making himself at home in her head, aggravated, Amber searched for her walkman. When she found it she pushed play and slipped on the headphones, listening to her Lost Prophets cd. She sang along, finding it easier to do her work now.

Tala ran into the room, disrupting her work. His face was ghostly pale, his eyes wide, Ruin beside him. Something was up.

Tala opened his mouth, "Something's gone wrong."

**

* * *

Well, that finishes off the Prologue. It's been modified, not so much re-written. I like it better, so tell me what you think. Oh, I will also be posting chapter four of Counterfeit Reality: Schizophrenic soon. I promise. It's been neglected but only because I had writer's block and nothing came out right. I'm more than half-way done. RR plz. **

_Ja Mata, Arcada_


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter one is here! Short I know, and I also know that I haven't updated in ages. I also have no excuses other than I was busy with my other fics and stupid exams (cross your fingers and pray that I passed). I also had writers block for awhile and it was hard to write anything that I didn't think was trash. I hope you guys enjoy, read and review please.**

**Luvs Fluffy-sama:** Glad ya like it. I liked the start sort of, here's the next chapter. Read and Review please. Oh, in regards to your Gummy Worm, well, you don't get it. You get more than one-hands over bucket of gummy worms-

**xInfernal:** Thanks, here's the update

**Mountain** Galux: I'm glad you like it, here's chapter one. Definitely, Miyami and Johnny are together forever. I agree with you on them being a great couple. Here's the update

**Leoparda:** I'm glad you like the story. Read and Review please

**mzhiwatari:** Glad you like the chapter and story. R and R please

**Disclaimer:** I own Arista Dymitri Belyaev. If you want to borrow her, ask first. Amber Marie Benson belongs to Zadien, as does Morrigan 'Ruin' Mulryan. Ask first or you'll have to deal with her anger. Shahero Kaeto is the property of Coors and Bobby, her inanimate hockey stick. Miyami Kinomiya is the brilliant creation of ChibiTari/Unlucky-Star. Sonia is the sole property of SpitfireSae, and Aspin Grant is owned by none other than Animerle. Takao Aomi owns the concept of the spinning tops, all original characters, and all such related indicia.

**Warning:** There will be blood, gore, swearing, conspiracy, alcohol, death, and all that other good stuff. -Grins- _Don't say I didn't warn you._

**Plot:** Brooklyn had orders to convert an enemy to Vampirism. But something went wrong, there was a flaw in the seemingly perfect plan. Who he bit was human, if the council find out they'll kill her. Now he'll do whatever it takes to protect her, even if that means death. Just how far will he have to go?

On the other hand, the council is threatened to fall apart when Voltaire kills Dickenson, the leader of all supernatural beings. Now he takes the place as head honcho. Something sinister is going on because Voltaire was somehow connected to the faults in the Perfect plan. If anyone discovers this, he'll personally kill them. Maybe Arista isn't all she seems to be.

Add to that the vampires who rebel against Voltaire. Things take a nasty turn when all hell breaks loose, and not for the better.

**A Brief History of the Two Worlds:** The Parallel world and the Human world are interconnecting. The Parallel world overlaps on the Human world. Basically there are two Earths except they balance on each other. When night comes the Vampires can go out into the Human world. The Humans can't see them, but the Vampires can see the Humans. This is how they kill and take out their enemies, prey, etc.

Since the Humans can't see the Vampires, they have no method of protection. So instead a veil was cast on their world that separated them from the Parallel world. This veil, unfortunately, has threads that are breaking and are already severely damaged. The Vampires can get through this since it acts like a portal between the two worlds.

The Vampires can come out in daylight but they need something to help them sustain their form (Ex: blood given willingly once a week). The sustained Vampires have been around for a few centuries. They have interacted with other Vampires and possibly Humans. They can control their emotions and blood-cravings, which is always helpful to gain trust.

**A Brief History of Vampirism:** The idea of drinking blood to be immortal is not a foreign one to the human mind. Drinking the blood of another is sometimes understood as obtaining the "life-blood" of someone else for yourself. The idea of being a vampire is basically obtaining someone else's life inside of you, along with your own.

Vampires are creatures that maintain immortality by sucking blood from humans and animals. They're night creatures, and the sight of sunlight turns them to stone, or sometimes dust. They sleep in coffins, can't stand churches, and scream at the sight of garlic.

Most Vampires can stay in their human form during the day, thus allowing them to come out in the daylight. Some Vampires are immune to churches, garlic, and sunlight. While other Vampires are a cross breed of Human and Vampiric parents, they are also immune. All of the other Vampires can cast a veil to protect them from such incidents. Typically, it is thought that Vampires will die if you drive stake through their heart. This is incorrect and does nothing to stop the Vampires.

They have been around for ages, even though most people don't believe in them, they are real. They make great companions with ghosts, or otherwise prefer to be alone, basking in solitude.

* * *

If You Touched My Heart

Chapter One: Destruction

* * *

Pain rushed through her veins, sending cool chills down her spine. Whatever he had done to her, it was making it's effects apparent now. Arista's body rocked with the pain that flooded through her in torrents.

Make it stop, please God, just make it stop...·

Tremors ran through her, leaving her feeling weak and small. So very small. What on Earth and beyond was happening to her?

Her eyes dilated, rolling back in their sockets. Agonizingly slow and painful. She was in a room, stark white and raped of any colour. A single light flickered on and off in the centre of the ceiling, causing her head to ache. Arista was left to face four walls, all of which hurt to look at. So she closed her eyes, finding little comfort in the darkness.

What little warmth was in her body had escaped during the convulsions. She rocked back and forth with her hands around her knees, hugging them. Her head lay in her lap, hair spilling forward in a tangle of silver, black-streaked locks. Her face was tired, and sullen. Bags with shadows deep enough to fall in were under her eyes. And her eyes, her eyes were distant and weary, the navy melded with the amber flecks, leaving a mixture of the two colours in it's wake.

Her body was limp and tired. How long she had been in there she didn't know. What she did know was that she wanted to get away. Run somewhere, anywhere. Just to get away from this place. Her jeans were hanging loosely on her frail form, her baggy sweatshirt hung to mid-thigh. Her lips were closed in a firm line, giving the expression of detest.

She rocked back and forth, back and forth, willing it all away. But it wouldn't go away. Wherever she was, she was stuck there until someone let her go.

-oOoOo-

Brooklyn couldn't bear to watch the scene unfold, so he turned away. Eyes looking to the ground in interest. It was his fault that she was in there. All his fault that an Innocent was now converting to Vampirism. Why did he have to be assigned to take on the Lycanthrope?

Because he was good at what he did, he reminded himself.

Still, there were others. Like Hitoshi, Mystel, or Kai. Hell, there were plenty more able-bodied Vampires that could have taken on the task. But it was narrowed down to him. Of all the people, he sighed.

Although she couldn't see out from inside the small room, others could see in from outside. A small rectangular window, outlined with metal, framed the outside of one of the walls. So whatever happened in there, he would be able to see in. Except he didn't want to because it just told him how much of a failure he was.

Losing himself in his thoughts, Brooklyn stood contemplatively, thinking about the possible punishments he would have to face for his actions. He just couldn't understand where he had gone wrong. _What_ he had done wrong. Nothing sprang to mind, so he inwardly cursed himself for his stupidity.

The Chief, a.k.a. Kenny, ran a scan on the human. So far all of his data had led him to believe that she was just a normal, ordinary girl. There was nothing particularly special about her, nothing that sparked any interest. Yet, why was she then, the one in the room? Why was it not the enemy? He re-read the screen on his laptop until his eyes were sore.

He rubbed them in hopes of stalling the oncoming headache. When he lowered his hands, the brown fringe of hair reclaimed his forehead. He didn't want to believe that Arista Dymitri Belyaev wasn't all she claimed to be. But how could he trust his gut when it was telling him that she was in that room for a reason. That she was there because someone wanted her there whether she liked it or not.

He turned his gaze towards the window and looked through it to see her rocking back and forth in a corner. He remembered when he had been there. It was scary and he didn't want to relive the feeling. Instead he made a hard copy of the file on Arista and waited for it to finish printing.

When it was all done he laid it on the tabletop for Brooklyn without a word, then turned and literally ran out of there with his laptop clutched under his arm.

Brooklyn took no notice, still lost in his thoughts. Only to be snapped back to reality when a scream pierced through his ears.

Shivers ran down his spine, resting in the pit of his stomach. He glanced into the room through the window, and just as he'd suspected, he saw what he'd created. The monster he'd awakened inside of someone previously immaculate.

Jesus Christ on stilts, he thought. What was he supposed to do now? He had never experienced the pain of being bitten. After all, he was born a Vampire. His mother and father, part of the Council, were from a long blood-line of Vampires. So he carried down the tradition.

He had never felt the pain of being bitten, nor had he ever wanted to. He raised his eyes heavenwards and watched the female in the small room.

-oOoOo-

Arista screamed until her throat was sore and hoarse. Until she couldn't breathe so she had to put her head between her knees and gasp for the air that she so desperately needed. Never had she felt so much excruciating pain before.

She couldn't even begin to fathom the ache in her body if she'd wanted to. Her head spun, and her vision blurred. Sure she'd had a few broken bones, some scrapes and cuts, but never anything this unbearable.

When she caught her breath, she closed her eyes so tightly that they throbbed with raw hurt. She was rapidly losing her strength and felt the need to scream again. Her insides battled to stay away awake.

But all she wanted to do was sleep. To just sleep and not wake up until this was over, until she could wake up in her warm, safe bed at home. All she wanted was to just go home...

-oOoOo-

Amber paled at the news that Tala told her. Her whiskey eyes widened when the name of her friend came up. It was one thing for Brooklyn to have screw up, but not this much. She listened intently while he spoke the words that battered around her heart like a hammer.

This wasn't supposed to happen. How did it happen anyways, she wondered. Brooklyn was good at keeping things under control, so what had happened? Poor Arista, she thought.

Her friends meant the world to her, if any one of them got hurt she'd get revenge. But she couldn't get back at Adams without facing consequences, one of them being if the council found out. They frowned upon domestic fights and such. Since they practically lived together in one big mansion, it was considered domestic.

To take her mind off the anger that simmered in her blood stream, she turned her eyes to Tala's. His hair was parted and spiked on either side, sticking out in two odd red angles. Two single bangs framed his face. The blood red of his hair stood out against his pale skin like the brightest rubies. His gorgeous turquoise eyes were swimming with emotions. Having dated Arista, however long ago, he cared a lot about her and hated to see her, or any of his friends, hurt. His soft lips were curved in a scowl. If Amber didn't give Brooklyn a good punch or four, he was sure to pick up the slack. Tala Valkov was handsome, no doubt about that.

Amber gave a sympathetic smile, understanding exactly what her friend since childhood was going through. The Parallel world was a messy place. She didn't want to drag her friends into it. Ruin wasn't a Vampire or even supernatural, but she knew about them and their world. Amber's eyes turned to meet with the dark chocolate of Ruin's.

Ruin stood, her arms crossed over her chest. She was dressed in all black. A black t-shirt that framed her form, black jean pants with a thick skull-studded belt holding them up. Around her neck was a black choker. Her black hair was streaked with red and blue, catching the light and glinting. Even her shoes were black, Amber noticed. The gothic females face was expressionless, her mouth set in a grim line. Her charcoal brown eyes fixed on a point just above Amber's shoulder. Ruin's angular face was covered in creamy skin, her hair cropped barely above her shoulder. Her face was unreadable but Amber knew her better than that. Deep down Ruin loved her friends just as much as she herself did.

Amber sighed just as Kai entered the room. His face was calculating, making her wonder just what he had been doing. His hair was wind-swept, cheeks coated with the slightest layer of a pink tinge. He frowned when he saw the looks on the faces of the teenagers. Yeah, he thought to himself, they knew what had happened. He was dressed casually in his trademark black t-shirt and dark jeans.

"Let's go." Tala broke the silence like a whip cracking.

Amber nodded, got up. Ruin didn't say anything but left the room. Tala followed her shortly after grabbing his keys from the table in the living room.

Kai watched them go then turned his eyes to Amber. She was already up and walking. She brushed by him catching the subtle musky scent of him. She would never admit it to anyone living or dead, but she liked it. Just like she liked him.

They dashed out of the house locking it behind them. Amber slid into the back seat of Tala's car, closing the door after her. Kai slipped in through the other side. Ruin, having gotten there first, was in the front passenger seat. Tala jammed the keys into the key slot and slammed his foot on the accelerator.

The red-head drove alarmingly fast, not that it entirely mattered though. Being supernatural sure had it's advantages. If they got into a car crash they would get a few bruises and cuts, suffer some blood loss but nothing too serious. Or so he hoped, especially in Ruin's case.

Though he didn't plan on crashing his car anytime soon, he hoped it wouldn't come to that. He was already way past the speed limit, going at 245km per hour and still his foot didn't stop the steady flow of pressure on the gas.

-oOoOo-

Arista lay limp and lifeless, staring at the ceiling. The pain had stopped, leaving her feeling wilted. It hurt to think, it even hurt to move. She concentrated on just breathing. Staying alive. Her inert eyes were glued to the square shapes on the tiles that lined the ceiling.

In fact, every time she exhaled or inhaled, her lungs ached. Her eyes were closed blocking out everything. Her brain felt like it had been shut off entirely. Her throat was sore, her body ached and she felt so tired. Like the energy had been drained from her.

She opened her eyes weakly, her eyelashes fluttering open and closed. A buzzing rang through her ears, echoing in a high pitch. She clasped her hands over her ears to make it stop but it didn't. It kept on ringing, getting louder with every second.

Pop!

And it stopped so suddenly that she felt like her eardrums had burst. What was going on? Her heartbeat quickened, her pulse getting thicker. Slowly she lowered her hands and propped herself on her elbows. When she felt she could support herself she got up in a sitting position and crossed her legs Indian-style.

She felt strangely alive. A new energy burned within her, feeding her hunger until it was sated. Even then she still fed on it, feeling better than she had in weeks. She leaned back into the corner of the room and took a few deep breaths, soothing her frayed nerves.

Arista opened her eyes to find the walls dimmer than they had been and her eyes adjusting to the whiteness. A single silhouette of a person was shadowed in what was a window at first glance.

Had they been watching her? Had they seen her suffer? Anger formed inside of her, giving her blind, raw power that flooded her veins. She got up and walked, ignoring the way her blood quickened and raced again. Her eyes were narrowed into tiny slits, glinting in the dim light.

Her mouth was formed in a grim line, her hair spread out on her shoulders. Someone was going to be in a lot of pain if no one explained what had happened to her.

When she reached the window she caught the surprised look on the male behind the glass.

But she didn't care. She raised her arm to strike down the barrier between them so she could punch his lights out. She took a swing at the glass, it cracked but didn't shatter. She aimed again and this time a loud crack, like lightening, was heard.

The glass exploded into tiny pieces, scattering on the floor in shards. Hundreds of tiny pieces were everywhere. Arista lowered her bloody hand to her side, strangely enough, it hadn't hurt much. All she'd felt was a stinging sensation and that was it. She didn't care to notice however.

The male in front of her took a step back, like he hadn't been expecting this. Arista inwardly snorted. _Yeah, watch me suffer and look all innocent._

"Uh, uh, uh." She rose her good hand and waved a finger side to side. "I don't think so buddy."

Before Brooklyn could blink she was on him. She kicked and sent him flying into the wall. Before he could register what had happened, she had punched his gut and given him an upper-cut to his jaw.

Arista smirked now, this was too easy but oh so much fun. She grabbed a bunch of his ginger hair and yanked his face down to hers. The look in his eyes had her faltering, but she regained her posture and hissed venomously.

"Too bad, so sad." She whispered, barely audible.

And with that she let go of him, only to kick him in the groin, then punch him twice in the face. One punch landed on his eye, while the other on his chest. He wasn't even trying to fight back. But she didn't care. If he'd watched her go through all that pain and not do anything, well, he had another thing coming.

He was on the floor, hunched over. Breath coming in fast, ragged gasps. She lowered herself towards him and elbowed his back, strong and hard.

Brooklyn ignited with fiery pain. It was so intense that it felt like it had swallowed him up, chewed him, then spit him out. His body ached, and he was bleeding, sore with bruises and cuts.

Glass crunched around him as he realised that the female was still angry with him. She didn't understand that if he'd intervened that he could have gotten them both killed. What difference did it make now though? They both hurt too much anyways, that it would have been better were they dead already.

A blow to his head had his vision slightly foggy. A second blow to his torso this time had brought out the urge to fight back. But still he resisted. He would just wait out her anger... if he could last that long without striking back, he thought.

Arista picked him up by the neck of his shirt, and slammed him against the wall. The sheer strength had Brooklyn rethinking his decision. If she was that strong, then would it matter if he gave her a punch or two? He didn't hit females, but this was getting out of hand. He could feel himself losing consciousness.

Arista elbowed him in his stomach, and punched his other eye. His left one closed from the pain. The beast within him exploded, and awakened. His eyes narrowed into tiny slits of emerald, glinting with something not quite human. His teeth were bared ferally, showing off the pointed tips. His balance returned to him and he regained control of hid body. It was infuriating his beast to have been caged in for so long, so now it was going to take vengeance with it's fury. Brooklyn growled low and deep in throat, awakening his inner Vampire.

Someone was going to pay dearly.

He grasped at Arista's hand and held her wrist in an iron grip, she struggled but found out it was pointless when he only squeezed harder. A numbness spread through her wrist, past her elbow and crawled up her spine. Anger, at being denied punishing him, was rapidly increasing, she raised her other hand to scratch at his hand, but his voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He licked his lips as he watched the blood trickle out from the fresh wounds he'd inflicted on her previously undaunted skin.

He leaned in close to her, his eyes widening to slivers, his mouth hovering by her ear. "Are you scared yet?"


End file.
